Palestinian woman, Bequaa Refugee Camp, Jordan.
This Palestinian woman (pictured) grew up and met her husband when there were no borders in Palestine. Since the Israelis occupied the West Bank - forcing many Palestinians to flee for their lives - the woman and her family have lived in the Bequaa Refugee Camp on the outskirts of Amman, Jordan. In this photo, she sits in the shadows and appears somehow diminished. To me, this image is a reminder that we are all in some way diminished by the Israelis' murderous assault Monday on a flotilla of peace activists bringing essential aid to Gaza.
By now you've heard the story several times and no doubt, many versions of it. The Israelis struck at dawn, when the flotilla were still in international waters. The ships and their cargo previously had been inspected by both Turkish and Greek authorities and found to have no weapons. As Swedish crime writer Henning Mankell - a passenger on the flotilla - said in an interview in Berlin with The Guardian, if the Israelis wanted to stop the ships, they "could have disabled the rudder and propeller. Instead they preferred to send masked commando soldiers
to attack us. This was Israel's choice to do this."
"And it was the
most stupid thing they could have done, because look around, Israel has
never been so criticised in the world as of today and if you ask me,
this blockade will be over within the next six months," Mankell said.
Activists on the Turkish cruise ship Mavi Marmara apparently used makeshift weapons, including wooden table legs and metal chairs to repel the Israelis descending - under cover of darkness - by helicopter onto the ships. The Israelis claim their beseiged soldiers responded by shooting activists. (One soldier was later honoured as a hero in Israel). Other eyewitness accounts suggest Israeli soldiers fired on activists without provocation, even after a white flag was raised. Initial autopsy reports released by Turkey indicate the victims were shot at close range, in the head or in the back; making it unlikely that these men could have been attacking the soldiers.
Nine activists were killed - including an American citizen - with many others seriously injured. But instead of allowing medics on board the Mavi Mamara tend to the dying and critically-injured, Israeli soldiers handcuffed them. Along with other activists, they were kept on deck for hours, forced to remain in a kneeling position, without water or food.
Soldiers confiscated their medical equipment, luggage, phones and computers. After searching the luggage, a soldier accused Henning Mankell of carrying a weapon: a disposable plastic shaving razor. "I have 24 witnesses to this, he
showed me my razor, a one-time use razor and a box cutter he'd found in
the kitchen," Mankell said. He said all his possessions were taken.
"They stole my camera, my telephone … even my socks."
After several hours, activists were taken either to hospital or prison. Initially, visits from the citizens' respective consulates were refused, just as Israel declined to release the identity of those killed by Israeli bullets. The Israeli government later claimed the bodies had "insufficient papers on them for identification." Three days later, most activists - sans their personal belongings - were deported to Greece or to Jordan.
On Saturday, Israel also seized the Gaza aid boat
the
Rachel Corrie, again boarding the ship in international waters. Among the 11 passengers offering no resistance was Nobel peace laureate Máiread Corrigan. Activists on ships attacked Monday included Hedy Epstein, a Holocaust survivor and several European MPs,
Of course Monday's "gunboat diplomacy" was not the first time the Israelis have used disproportionate force in the name of "security." Reacting to incoming rocket fire from Hamas, in December 2008, the Israeli military launched Operation Cast Lead. For three weeks, the Israelis bombarded Gaza, illegally using deadly white phosporous and killing nearly 1,400 Palestinians. Thirteen Israeli soldiers died in the conflict. After Hamas won democratic elections in 2006, Israel closed the borders to Gaza, effectively creating what French President Nicolas Sarkozy has referred to as a giant open-air prison.
Egyptian and US complicity
Strangely, the Egyptians have been complicit in the Israelis' illegal actions and numerous human rights violations. Not only have the Egyptians sealed their own Rafah crossing border with Gaza, they're tried to erect a supposedly-impenetrable fence to prevent Gazans from entering Egypt through any means. Under pressure following Israel's murderous raid Monday, the Egyptians have temporarily opened the Rafah crossing to allow limited movement.
The US government also has served as an apologist for the Israeli regime and their relentless efforts to spin their self-serving version of events. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the blockade "unsustainable
and unacceptable." But President Barack Obama's measured remarks - while the rest of the world strongly condemned the Israeli attack on civilians - were breathtaking in their understatement. In an interview with Jeremy Paxman on BBC's Newsnight, Phillip Crowley, US Assistant Secretary-of-State, sounded like an Israeli government spokesman, so biased were his claims. Asked what Israel would have to do to be condemned by the US, Crowley stammered that Israel "had the right to defend itself," but failed to answer the question.
Rogue states
Imagine if Iran or North Korea had boarded a humanitarian aid ship in international waters in the dead of night and murdered peace activists! Reaction would be swift and brutal. But the Israelis are a special case and continue to quite literally get away with murder. The Israelis claimed they acted with restraint on the Mavi Mamara. But members of the UN Security Council disagreed, with only the United States insisting on watering down language in a statement condemning the attack, calling for an immediate independent inquiry and ordering the release of civilians detained in the raid.
As an American, as a journalist who covered the Middle East for many years and as a human rights activist, I am deeply affronted by repeated Israeli extremist actions, defying international law and standards of human decency. The Israeli government's (and their biased media puppets') attempts to spin the truth for their own aims fool no one familiar with the region. Many, many Israelis are appalled by the actions of their right-wing government. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Nethanyahu and his cabinet are influenced by a rising number of Orthodox party members, who oppose a two-state solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Regardless of their internal debate, the Israelis continue to deliberately violate international law and UN resolutions and ignore human rights laws. Not only have the victims become the oppressors, they are veering dangerously out of control. Numerous protests against the Israeli attack on aid ships continued this weekend in world capitals, including New York, Paris, London and Buenos Aires,
Meanwhile, the Palestinians suffer more every day, particularly the 1.5 million Palestinians corralled like cattle within a giant rodeo ring in Gaza. They are prevented from getting the medical help they need, from attending university, from rebuilding their homes destroyed in the Israeli war on Gaza. That even one person should be treated in such a manner is unconscionable. That 1.5 million of them suffer such a fate for the actions of a few is inhumane.
Shame on the Israelis. Shame on Egypt for its complicity. And shame on the US for turning a blind eye to the outrage (while continuing to fuel billions of dollars in aid and weapons to Israel). All humanity is diminished by these injustices.
Related articles:
Queen Rania of Jordan: Hardliners are now the face of Israel
Hijacking the truth; destroying evidence
UN Chief calls for international inquiry
Gaza flotilla attack: A week that changed Middle East politics
British survivor recounts Israeli assault
Non-governmental organisations:
Jews for Justice for Palestinians
Free Gaza
Palestine Solidarity Campaign
